On a recent trip to the Bolivar Peninsula with a carload of friends, I stopped in the small town of Winnie, Texas for a quick pit stop at the local Texaco gas station that had a hot food counter serving mostly pizzas and fried foods.
These counters, combined with a few picnic tables outside the gas station, are becoming more prevalent in small-town Texas. As mom-and-pop restaurants and big chains close in these small towns, this concept is taking their place.
Some of these hot food stands serve up some pretty good grub. This particular location in Winnie, in addition to serving fried chicken and (frozen?) pizzas, also serves local boudin sausages and boudin balls. These products were franchised from a well-known boudin purveyor called DJ's Boudain that operates out of nearby Beaumont.
The boudin balls were the size of a baseball and fried to an irresistible golden brown. I ordered one and took a bite. The crispy, thin crust gave way to a creamy concoction of boudin rice and little flakes of meat and herbs. I took a few more bites and discovered a gooey surprise -- the center was filled with a melted chunk of Velveeta cheese. This definitely catapulted just another boudin ball into the realm of true comfort/road food. We bought a few to go and passed them around the car on the way to Bolivar.
